I have moved into the area, for which half of the houses hae sealed sump pump area. Question is:
Thxs
AT
I use a heating duct boster fan to ventilate my sump pump to the outsdie. I use a 4" duct like you would use for a kitchen fan and an outside wall plate with a screen to keep critters out, and the duct to the outside runs thru the perimiter joist just above the plate. Since this is not specifically for radon control, I didn't run it up to the roof. But, I am sure it helps reduce any radon as well as any smellls.
You would not seal a sump pump. If it's a below ground tank, with a bolted on cover and pipes coming up through rubber bushings, it would likely be an ejector pump for sewage. If you're looking at a 4" PVC duct coming out of the concrete, it's probably a radon system. The blower for the system could be outside the house, or in some remote location
Sumps _are_ sealed for radon mitigation.
My sump cover is sealed and has a PVC pipe coming out of it through the roof for passive radon removal. What's dumb about the setup is that the cover is sealed but has a 2" diameter circular hole in it.
Seems someone forgot something. ;-)
So your dog or baby won't fall in?
Even if it's not sealed, what are you going to do? The time to do it is now.
My house is 32 years old and the sump pump is always big enough**, except once 4 years ago, I came home and there was water on the laundry room floor, where the sump pump is. I heard the pump running, ran outside to see if the output was clogged, but it wasn't. It was pouring loads of water out, but this one time, not enough.
The water dried up and I thought I would go from a 1/3HP pump to a
1/2HP pump iirc. But then I thought about instead getting a battery operated pump, which woudl also supplement the current pump. Then I thought about getting 1/2hP AND the battery pump. Then I thought about getting a water-powered basepump, which doesn't use electricity, but doesn't, IIRC and I'm pretty sure I do, have the output of even my 1/3HP, but that's okay because I could keep t he 1/3 in place, or change it to a 1/2.Anyhow, the choices confused me and I figure I have maybe 24 years before another time that the pump isn't big enough.
Check with neiighbors who have lived there longer to find out the real chance of flooding (and to find out why it is sealed) , to find out how big their sump pump is, if they know, to find out how to unseal the sump when you need to. Especially check with n'bors whose house is at the same elevation yours is.
I'm at the end of the row of townhouses, so it's clear to the eye that my house is the same elevation as the one next door, and the two next to that are a little higher, and everyone else is higher still. The first four are the only ones out of 109 who have a problem when the stream overflows the manhole for the sanitary sewer and that backs up. (Well not anymore for me.)
** (not counting the potential for a power failure, which has never occurred when the water table was higher than my basement floor)That's okay. Only the small radon will get through, and there isn't much of that.
I tested the basement for radon about 20 years ago and there was none. I hope they don't decide to stop meeting at the malt shop and meet here.
If the question is about the issue of having to unseal it if it fails during a hurricane, you just unseal it and do what you have to do. Radon is a long term exposure issue and even if you leave it uncovered for a couple days, it's not going to kill everyone. I agree with the above advice. The time to unseal it, take a look, figure out what you need to have a backup pump that you can quickly replace it with, etc is now.
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